Vibrant Masonic Lodge of Manteca celebrates 100 years

James Henry Austin's legacy for the average county resident may be the road that bears his name, a north-south artery east of Highway 99 that runs from Mariposa Road in Stockton through Ripon.

Lori Gilbert

James Henry Austin's legacy for the average county resident may be the road that bears his name, a north-south artery east of Highway 99 that runs from Mariposa Road in Stockton through Ripon.

For the men who gather for monthly club meetings on Powers Avenue, Austin was a patron, one of 13 men who formed Tyrian Lodge No. 439, the Masonic Lodge of Manteca in 1913 and its first master, or president.

The group celebrated its 100th anniversary in August, complete with visits by officials from the Grand Lodge of Masons for the State of California. It was a tremendous undertaking and worthy of note. Just as noteworthy, though, is the fact that the lodge continues to attract young, new members.

As with most service organizations, the Tyrian Lodge's heyday was in the 1950s, when men returning from World War II settled down, started families, and joined service clubs. Membership in all clubs has waned, but this men's-only organization retains its appeal.

One day last month, 20-year-old Dylan Law spent time in the lodge meeting room, where the floor is covered in the original carpet that was installed when the building opened in 1957.

"People I knew were in it," Law said. "I live a couple of blocks away and see the building all the time. I was an Eagle Scout and my scout master and assistant scout masters were members."

He asked them the right question to become a member.

The fraternal organization hasn't sustained itself worldwide this long because of an ever-growing need for stonemasons or through recruiting campaigns.

Masons wait for someone to ask, "How do I join?"

In the case of Adam Karim, the Tyrian Lodge No. 439's current junior warden, an office that puts him on the road to lodge master in two years, the process took a while.

"My grandfather's a member of this lodge and his brother is a member, in Kansas," said Karim, 31, who was born and raised in Manteca and moved back with his wife and three young children in 2007 after 10 years in the Bay Area. "He talked about Masonry for year's and years and I (said), 'OK, Grandpa,' and it went in one ear and out the other. A few years ago I thought maybe I should go through that and he got me an application and it sat in my drawer. Then, my grandma passed away (in 2010) and the secretary of the lodge called to offer his condolences. He said we'd talked about a year (before), and (I) was going to turn in an application. I brought it down, and that was that. If not for the secretary calling, I wouldn't have joined."

Now, Karim is at the lodge building almost every day. He lives nearby and keeps an eye on it. He's also an adviser for the DeMolay, a Masonic organization for boys 12 to 21. It's one of three lodge affiliate organizations, along with Eastern Star for women and Rainbow Girls for those 11 to 20.

John Shaughnessy III, like Karim, joined because of his grandfather.

"My grandfather on my dad's side, my name sake, on his deathbed told me I should check out the Masons," Shaughnessy said. "He had a friend in the Marines who was a Mason. When they came back he was going to go down and introduce him to his brothers. He never made it back and my grandfather never pursued it. He finished his Marine career, became a blacksmith and never got into it. I worked for the federal government and had guys who worked for me who were Masons. I checked it out. I'm a life member of Norfolk Lodge No. 1 in Norfolk, Va., George Washington's Lodge."

That Washington and other founding fathers were Masons is well known, and even has given rise to questions about the Masons' influence on early American life, a feeding frenzy for conspiracy theorists.

The so-called controversial nature of Masons makes David Bricknell, 72, a Mason since 1978, laugh.

"It's a fraternal organization. We claim to take good men and make them better, and there are rituals for going from first degree Mason to second degree Mason and second degree Mason to third degree Mason," Bricknell said. "The big secret is there is no secret. ... We're a boys club that doesn't want girls in it. We have three handshakes, but I could do them in front of you and you'd never know it."

"Freemason" referred to highly skilled stonemasons who were hired as free agents to build castles and cathedrals in the British Isles during the Middle Ages. They formed local organizations, called lodges, to care for men who were sick or injured on the job, and to care for widows and orphans of those killed working. The first fraternal organization of Masons formed in London in 1717. The first lodge in American was established in 1733 in Boston and the first lodges in California formed in mining towns during the gold rush.

The one rule for Masons - besides being male - is that they believe in God. Members need not be Christian, though. Karim said the Manteca lodge has Jewish members and Muslims, and is fairly representative of the community.

It's a group committed to service. It helps with food drives and creates identification cards for children. Parents can have a photo and fingerprints taken of their children, then are given the card in case of emergency. In years past, the lodge gathered shopping carts that ended up all over town, and returned them to their stores a couple of times a month. They also purchased maps for Manteca classrooms, a program started when Bricknell was master of the lodge, in 1998.

Some programs have ended, mostly for lack of funds.

The lodge has a membership of about 160, with 30 to 40 of them active. Those who do attend are equal, even if some have roles as officers.

Yes, there are secrets Masons won't share, but they happily share their time and work to help, and that's a lot more important than a handshake or password.